Realisation
by Libretto
Summary: It was in the middle of the supermarket, just as Hilary was stretching tiptoed up to the top shelf to reach the popcorn when she realised, very suddenly, that Rei was cheating on her ... reihil oneshot.


Realisation, by Libretto

Just a little short story I came up with one night in my room over a lovely warm cup of tea. I like it, personally.Hope you guys do too!

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It was in the middle of the supermarket, just as Hilary was stretching tip-toed up to the top shelf to reach the popcorn when she realised, very suddenly, that Rei was cheating on her. Open-mouthed, she stared unseeingly at the packet in her hand and dropped slowly back to her feet.

Well.

It was a realisation she could have done without, quite frankly - especially since it was three days from their seventh anniversary. She dropped the packet into the trolley and sat down. Heavily.

So obvious, she thought absently. So blindingly obvious. He'd been making eyes at that woman for weeks – _months_. And every time she came over he went into one of his sensitive moods and cooked dinner for them, even though Hilary always cooked for guests and he'd never cared about it before. And the way he acted like a tipsy schoolboy around her, always fishing for compliments and blushing sweetly when she teased him. Hilary had thought it was cute – thought he was doing it for herself. Thought, although now it had an unusually sour flavour, that maybe that magazine for desperate housewives – not that she _was_ – had been right, and it was only a matter of time before the passion came back into a marriage.

Good _God_.

She wondered, briefly, whether she should do the artistic thing and flop into a faint there and then. But of course, she didn't, and was surprised and not a little disturbed to find out that she wasn't really as shocked or hurt about it as she should have been. She was angry. And not at Rei either, even though he deserved it – the conniving _prick_ that he was. No ... she was angry at that little minx of a woman who'd swanned into their living room all those months ago with that gorgeous smile and those radiant blue eyes and silvery blonde hair ... and Rei never had been able to resist blondes!

Hilary swung to her feet and shoved the trolley down the aisle, gripping it so hard that her knuckles went white and threatened to burst out of her skin. And all those years ago he'd said that it must be true love because Hilary wasn't the type of woman he usually went for. "She was different. Unique. Beautiful. She had hidden depths that those insipid blondes he'd been chasing never did." He had loved her. _Her__, Hilary!_ She was _different_. Inwardly, she snarled at him just as she reached the cash register and began slamming her shopping goods onto the mini-conveyor-belt. Obviously he no longer wanted "different".

Was he that bored with her? Wasn't she good enough? She was a wonderful wife. She didn't call him every hour to make sure he was alright. She didn't fling herself into jealous rages when she saw him hugging another woman. She didn't even worry when he came home late and hadn't told her before, and she _didn't_ go calling his friends to find out where he was and what he was doing.

Her hand froze as she was about to plonk the detergent down. She looked in sudden realisation at the check-out chick with purple sparkly nail polish, who was watching her wide-eyed and apprehensively.

"Maybe he wanted me to be possessive and clingy!" Hilary exclaimed, and dumped the detergent down. The sparkly purple nails edged cautiously towards the bottle and slowly swiped it through the scanner.

"That'll be $17.30, please."

Hilary held out the money dumbly, and for a moment was distracted by the lacquered nails – what was that colour? – which flicked through the five dollar notes. Fuschia? Royal purple? Lilac? And the word conjured up an image of That Woman, and that favourite suit of hers. Pale lilac silk.

Pale. Lilac. Silk.

Hilary gave a rather unladylike snort as she hefted the shopping bags into the boot. How pretentious could you get – and she had worn that suit to Hilary and Rei's _housewarming_ party, sashaying around like a goddess while everyone else loafed around comfortably in jeans. Why hadn't she realised? Why hadn't she ever noticed that she was trying to impress _her_ Rei? Ach.

Once again, a thought sprang suddenly to her mind. It was meant to be the Girls' Night Out today, only Mathilda had cancelled and Hilary, instead of telling Rei and coming home early, had decided to do the groceries. And every other week after Girls' Night Out, she had come home at 11 to an obviously tired, distracted and daydreaming husband. It had never meant anything to her before. But now, she was willing to bet, that little sugary bitch came round every week, to the house that _Hilary and Rei_ shared, and –

She ground her teeth, furious, and glanced at her watch. 7 o'clock. She could come home early, just to see. Or she could wait until 11, mooch around the cafe and wait until she wouldn't be hurt if she went. What if she was wrong?

Then, she'd be wrong.

What if you're the one who's bored with your marriage, a little voice whispered in the very back of her mind.

It didn't take her very long to get home. She didn't park in the driveway or outside the house; she parked a block away and walked, holding the shopping bags and distracting herself by watching the way her breath puffed into fog once it left her mouth and entered the chilly air.

And once she reached the house, she walked quietly and quickly before the windows which had the blinds pulled all the way down, and deposited the bags on the front porch. And then, she crept around the side of the house and reached to her tiptoes to peer into the bedroom window. Just a glance.

Well, well. And what have we here.

She supposed, as she watched them with a detachment that wasn't quite right, that she would be hurt in the morning. But now she only felt a sick satisfaction at having been proved right.

And she went back round, slotted the key in the lock and entered as quietly as she could, not dropping her bags as she went straight to the bedroom, looking forward (in a grim and somewhat twisted kind of way) to surprising them.

"Honey," she said loudly, slamming the door open and noting the sudden deer-in-headlights expressions on both their faces with black humour, "I'm home."

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Please read and review! God bless. 


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